NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — One family in New Jersey is looking to make sure others never have to go through what they did years ago.
Carli Bushoven says her sister, Madison Holleran, was a star athlete with a bright future. She had a close group of friends, came from a loving family and was working hard as a freshman at Pennsylvania State University.
But Madison was suffering from depression and unfortunately died by suicide at the age of 19.
“With Madison it happened so fast she went to school at the end of August, early September and she died in January,” Bushoven said. “So, I think with a lot of kids, you always think, ‘oh well, if they're depressed I’ll get them into therapy. I'll help them. I’ll get them medication.’ It's a long drawn out process of getting help, of trying to heal, and with Madison in particular just happened so fast, we want to make that clear to people that time is not always on your side.”
Bushoven says her sister’s death was a devastating shock for her and her family as they didn’t realize the 19-year-old was suffering until it was too late.
“With Madison she kept saying, ‘something's not right. I don't feel right. I don't feel like myself.’ But, she never use the word ‘depression’ or ‘anxiety’ or whatever it might be, she just kept telling us ‘something's not right,’” Bushoven said.
She now tells others that those statements can be huge indicators in identifying if somebody is suffering from depression.
“Your friends, your kids, whoever it might be, may not come up to you and use those exact words, they may not say ‘I am depressed’ or ‘I feel depressed,’ they may just say something like, ‘I don't feel right’ or ‘something is wrong’ and I think you need to be aware of that and looking out for that as well,” she said.
After the death of her sister, Bushoven and her family founded the Madison Holleran Foundation with a mission to prevent suicide and to assist those in a crisis situation with phone numbers and resources that can properly assist them.
The foundation also focuses on preparing high school seniors and college freshmen, since this can be a very difficult transition period, as it was for Holleran and many other college freshmen.
Bushoven and other members of the foundation travel around the county giving talks about suicide prevention and tell Holleran’s story and she says the most important piece of advice she gives to people who ask is to let people that are struggling know that you’re there for them.
“I think it's just so important to set your kids down and tell them, ‘you know, I'm here for you if you ever wanna talk about this. If you think you need to take a break from athletics, from school, if you just want to take a mental health day.’ It's important to know that you're there from them and that you are willing to have that conversation with them and you're willing to listen to them and give them a break that they might need,” she explains.